NBA Basketball: Kevin Garnett has everyone guessing

If anyone could use a rest, it's Kevin Garnett, but the Celtics' veteran is happy to be in Houston today for what he insisted will be his final All-Star Game.

“Oh, yeah, this is definitely my last All-Star Game,” Garnett said after the Celtics held off Chicago Wednesday.

Garnett didn't change his mind when he was reminded that he has two years remaining on his contract after this season.

“You all don't know what I know, though,” he said. “So let's just put it like this: I'm more than grateful for going, I'm not going to act like I got more All-Star games in me, so I'm just going to actually enjoy this one with friends and family — that's what I meant.”

Some thought those comments meant that Garnett plans to retire after this season. Some were under the impression that he doesn't expect to be selected an All-Star again. Garnett tried to back off his comments Friday, but no one knows for sure if he is considering retirement. Danny Ainge said he hadn't mentioned retirement to him.

Garnett may not have made up his mind yet, but retirement can't be ruled out. While Garnett is still an effective player, averaging 15.1 points and a team-high 7.7 rebounds, he will turn 37 on May 19.

If the Celtics surprise their critics by winning a couple of rounds in the playoffs without Rajon Rondo, and Garnett believes the Celtics can contend again next season once Rondo recovers from ACL surgery, he'll be more likely to return.

If the Celtics' injuries catch up to them and they fall apart after the All-Star break, Garnett may decide to retire rather than take part in a rebuilding project.

Garnett would pass up the $23.5 million he's scheduled to receive over the next two years if he retires, but he already has earned more in salary — a mind-boggling $328.5 million — than anyone in NBA history.

If Garnett retired, Paul Pierce would probably retire as well. The Celtics would then have to decide whether to rebuild around Rondo or trade him. Considering Rondo is recovering from ACL surgery, the Celtics would be hard-pressed to get as much as they'd want for him.

So Celtics fans can only hope that Garnett plans to stick around for a while.

At his age, Garnett tires more easily, so coach Doc Rivers has tried to limit his minutes, but he's averaging 30.3 a game, nearly as many as last year's 31.1 and more than his 29.9 average of three years ago.

Garnett was spent after he played a season-high 47 minutes last Sunday in a triple-overtime victory over Denver, so Rivers planned to have Garnett skip Monday's game at Charlotte, but was talked out of it. Then Rivers told his team that Garnett might not play Wednesday against Chicago, but Garnett insisted on suiting up.

“Paul's tired,” Garnett said, “everybody's tired and no one's full of energy right now, so I felt like that was unfair. If he wasn't going to give everyone the night off, then that wasn't an option. So I just came out and gave what I could.”

Garnett scored eight of his 12 points in the fourth quarter and finished with 11 rebounds to help the Celtics beat the Bulls, 71-69. Playing three games in four nights, Garnett fought through fatigue to record a third consecutive double-double for the first time this season.

Garnett could become only the third Celtic to average 15 or more points a game at the age of 36. John Havlicek did it three times and Robert Parish did it once. Most importantly, the Celtics allow 95.6 points per 100 possessions with Garnett and 104.8 without him, according to NBA.com. That 9.3 differential is second in the league to Lamar Odom of the Clippers.

While Rondo, Jared Sullinger and Leandro Barbosa have suffered season-ending injuries, Garnett has played in all 52 games. Rivers likely will sit him for some games late in the regular season to rest for the playoffs, but Garnett could end up playing in his most games in his six seasons as a Celtic. His high is 71.

This is the 15th time in Garnett's 18 NBA seasons he has been voted an All-Star and the 11th time he will start. He also was voted a starter in 2008, his first season with the Celtics, but couldn't play because of an abdominal strain.

The fans also voted Rondo a starter, but he won't play tonight because of his ACL surgery, so Garnett will be the only Celtic in Houston.

By winning eight of their last nine games, the Celtics have moved a season-best four games over .500 (28-24) and into seventh place in the Eastern Conference. They're only 2-1/2 games out of fourth and 3-1/2 out of third.

“These last two or three weeks, we've gotten better,” Garnett said. “I know everybody thought we were going to sink because Rondo went out, but we've been fighting for those guys and for ourselves. That's all you can ask.”

Rivers agrees.

“Just tremendous heart,” Rivers said. “I mean, you've got to love this team, you really do. This group of guys, we just keep talking about we choose to live. We're not going to just roll over.”

Garnett's teammates planned to use the All-Star break to rest up for the remaining schedule.

“Being a veteran player in this league,” Jason Terry said, “you need to step away for a second, re-gather yourself and get ready for this magical run because it is going to be magical, and we all believe that.”

Just when fans are ready to give up on the Celtics, they seem to play their best. So you never know what might happen when they hit the road to play their next five games, seven of their next eight, and nine of their next 11.

Fans jumped back on board when Boston followed a four-game losing streak with a six-game winning streak. Then the topsy-turvy Celtics lost six in a row and talk show hosts called for Ainge to blow up the roster, especially after Rondo was lost for the season. The Celtics responded by winning eight of their last nine.

The Celtics open their five-game road trip at Denver on Tuesday and they could still be down to 10 healthy players, including rookie center Fab Melo, whom Rivers said isn't ready for the NBA yet. Ainge has said he's in no hurry to add players, but Pierce thinks he should be.

“I think it's going to be necessary just for us to even have practice,” Pierce said. “We have to have a guard, maybe another big man.”

Assistant coach Tyronn Lue had to play the role of a guard during a walk-through last week.

So it's time for the Celtics to prove their doubters wrong once again, but it won't be easy because the road hasn't been kind to them. Only 8-15 away from home, the Celtics own the fewest road victories among the top eight teams in either conference.

They've lost five games on the road against four of the NBA's worst teams — once each at Charlotte, Cleveland and Sacramento, and twice at Detroit. They've lost four of their last five on the road overall and 12 of their last 16.

So expectations won't be very high when they head west short-handed, especially considering they're 0-5 on the road against the Western Conference. Plenty of other ugly numbers await them.

On Tuesday, the Celtics play at Denver, which is 23-3 at home and will be seeking to avenge that triple-overtime loss at Boston last Sunday.

On Wednesday, they'll visit the Lakers, who are 16-11 at home and will try to avenge a lopsided loss Feb. 7 at the Garden. The Celtics have lost seven of their last eight games when they play on the road on the second of back-to-back nights.

On Friday, they'll visit Phoenix, which is only 12-13 at home, but the Celtics have lost five of their last six there.

A week from tonight, they'll visit Portland, which is 17-8 at home. A week from Monday night, they'll visit Utah on the second night of another back-to-back. Utah is 20-6 at home.

After hosting Golden State on March 1, the Celtics visit Philadelphia (16-13 at home) and Indiana (21-5 at home) on back-to-back nights, then host Atlanta before traveling to Oklahoma City (23-4 at home) and Charlotte, where the Celtics lost on Monday. The following night, March 13, they host Toronto in another back-to-back.

So the 3-1/2 weeks will go a long ways in determining the Celtics' playoff hopes.

The Celtics aren't the only team that struggles on the road. Only seven of the NBA's 30 teams own winning road records.

In last year's lockout-shortened season, the Celtics posted their first losing road record (15-18) since they finished 12-29 in 2006-07, the season before Garnett joined the team.

They were 23-18 on the road in 2010-11 and actually posted a better record on the road (26-15) in 2009-10 than they did at home (24-17). They've already lost as many road games as they did the entire 2009-10 season.

Contact Bill Doyle at wdoyle@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillDoyle15.

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